John Lewis, the department store and bellwether of the UK high street, today said that sales since Sunday were in line with the past two weeks when trading fell by as much as 14 per cent.

The group, which this week became one of the first retailers to pass on the 2.5 per cent cut in VAT to its customers, said: "Although the market remains difficult, we continue to gain market share, in part driven by our strong value proposition"

John Lewis said that sales of toys, children's wear, perfume and craft-related merchandise were strong. However, it admitted: "Our sales trend this week is consistent with the preceding two weeks."

In its most recent full week trading update, John Lewis, which operates under the same partnership as Waitrose, the upmarket supermarket, reported one its worst ever trading periods when sales fell 14 per cent.

Conditions on the high street are deteriorating at an accelerating pace and yesterday, Woolworths as well as MFI, the furniture store, both fell into administration after sales plummeted and rescue deals both companies’ management.

The British Retail Consortium recently reported that retail sales in October fell by 2.2 per cent.

On Monday, Alistair Darling, the Chancellor, revealed in his Pre-Budget Report that VAT would be cut from 17.5 per cent to 15 per cent for 13 months in an effort to stimulate high street spending.

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